1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a barrette and, more particularly, a barrette having ornaments which are easily and quickly removed and replaced.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hair barrettes or hair clamping devices have been utilized for a long period of time as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 921,702, issued to Howe on May 18, 1909. As shown by Howe, barrettes typically include a curved metal strip having a wire clamp or pin that closes about the user's hair to maintain the hair in place.
It is also common custom for people to adorn themselves with ornamental structures such as ribbons or broaches. In U.S. Pat. No. 887,149, issued to Tarnow on May 12, 1908, there is disclosed a fastening device for securing bows in a person's hair.
Conventional barrettes usually comprise an arcuate clip which carries an assembly of pivotal bars and locking elements for the actual clamping of a tress of hair, and an arcuate, usually broader, plastic holder or metal bar to which the clip is attached. Together, the plastic holder or metal bar so coupled to an arcuate clip may be referred to as a hair clamp. The outer side of the holder can be decorated or adorned with various ornamental appendages such as jewelry, lace and the like. However, one of the most limiting features of early barrettes such as Tarnow's is that, if a person wearing a barrette desired a change of the barrett's appearance, she would need to remove the entire barrette from her hair and replace it with another barrette having different ornamental features.
Barrettes further evolved with replaceable ornamental features through the teachings such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,192,932, issued to Hart on Jul. 6, 1965, and U.K Patent No. 2,174,001, issued to Pabari on Apr. 19, 1985. Through these inventions, features such as ribbons, flowers, bows and the like can be removed and inserted into the barrette, thereby providing an economical means of enjoying a variety of styles and ornaments together with one basic barrette.
The designs of Hart and Pabari, however, have their limitations. Hart discloses a barrette with ornamental member, male and female snap members, and a plurality of tabs and notches which are designed to secure the ornamental member, through the snap members, to the hair clamp. Hart's teaching requires several elements, including arrays of tabs and notches, elements which contribute to the cost of manufacturing. The connecting means of Pabari's teaching requires the use of female and male spigots which must be removed and reset each time the ornamental member is replaced. One of the Pabari spigots must be placed underneath the body member of the barrette in order to receive its mate spigot (male or female) which, thereby, secures the ornamental piece from above. This limitation requires the Pabari barrette to be removed from the wearer's hair each time the ornamental member is to be replaced. Yet another limitation of the Hart and Pabari designs is that wearers may desire to wear several ornamental members simultaneously, mixing and matching a number of ornaments together, thereby achieving a multiplicity of styles and appearances at an economical price, yet this objective is not achievable in the design of Hart and not easily achievable through the teaching of Pabari Furthermore, another limitation of the Hart and Pabari designs is that the wearer may desire the body of the barrette to be concealed completely by its ornaments while the barrette is worn, a feature not completely accomplished by the designs of Hart and Pabari due to the complexities of their coupling means. Hart discloses a coupling means which protrudes outward from the body of the barrette and a decorative piece which, when coupled to the body, is further extended from the body of the barrette by the length of the coupling means.
Other art such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,698, issued to Edmark on Oct. 18, 1994, teaches the use of interchangeable ornaments for non-barrette hair pieces. Edmark discloses the combination of a setting which includes a frame and a base, at least one interchangeable, decorative piece, and a coupling means for coupling the decorative piece to the setting. Whereas Edmark discloses designs for economical, replaceable hair ornaments, this teaching falls short of combining these features together with the highly desirable hair grooming attributes of a barrette. Also, the frame element of Edmark confines the sizes and shapes of replaceable decorative pieces to the sizes and shapes of the frame.
While a barrette is an inexpensive item, the creation of a barrette having a flexible design for an economical price is a challenge which manufacturers face regularly. A disadvantage of known barrette designs is that to acquire a broad variety of color coordinates, including the causal as well as formal, together with a variety of shapes and sizes, so that a person can enhance their wardrobe at an economical price is typically achieved by purchasing numerous barrettes, each having a single color and ornamental design. While a single barrette may be an inexpensive item, purchasing several barrettes can be costly, particularly for those on lower clothing budgets. These limitations are problematic both for manufacturers and the barrette wearing public, yet they are all overcome by the innovations disclosed herein.